Mr. Cameron MacDonald reports
AURWEST RESOURCES COMPLETES PHASE 1 EXPLORATION PROGRAM AT WEAVER LAKE GOLD PROJECT
Aurwest Resources Corp. has completed the phase 1 exploration program at its Weaver Lake gold project, located in the Harrison Lake area of southwestern British Columbia. Under an option agreement with Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd., Aurwest can earn a 50-per-cent interest in the property.
The program, comprising rock, soil and stream sediment geochemical sampling, together with geological mapping, was designed to apply modern methods to targets defined by historical work while building, for the first time, a systematic and georeferenced geochemical data set over the entire claim block. Field crews relocated historical drill collars and pads, remapped the adit area and principal showings, and extended prospecting and sampling across the wider property. All samples have been submitted for analysis and results are pending. Phase 1 was guided by the recommendations of the independent technical report dated Dec. 29, 2025, prepared by Kristian Whitehead, PGeo, for Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd.
Phase 1 highlights:
- 324 samples were collected and submitted for analysis: 243 soil, 72 rock and nine stream sediment samples.
- The 243 soil samples were sited to confirm and extend anomalies defined by surveys in 1991, 1995 and 1996. Most of that historical sampling was analyzed for gold only (the 1995 survey also reported silver and zinc); all 2026 samples will be analyzed by modern multielement methods.
- Thirty-seven historical soil samples returned above 40 parts per billion (ppb) gold -- including five above one gram per tonne (g/t) gold, to a maximum of 10.6 g/t gold -- had never been followed up with prospecting or further geochemistry. These sites were prioritized in the 2026 program.
- Seventy-two rock samples were collected at historical soil anomalies and at sites where favourable mineralization, veining and alteration were observed in the field.
- Nine stream sediment samples covered the principal drainages on the claims. Regional BCGS survey data records the Weaver Lake drainage as anomalous in gold (304 ppb) and zinc (550 parts per million (ppm)); the 2026 sampling is intended to help vector toward the source.
- Geological mapping was completed across the main targets defined by historical geochemistry and drilling.
- Much of the historical geochemical, geophysical, drilling and mapping data lacks reliable geospatial control and had to be interpreted from georeferenced maps. Re-establishing accurate positions was a principal objective of phase 1 and is a prerequisite to reliable drill targeting.
Field observations
Mapping found the strongest development of stockwork druzy and chalcedonic quartz veining, up to 10 millimetres (mm) thick, and pyrite veining, up to three mm thick, within 10 metres (m) of prominent structures. Magnetic, fine-grained mafic intrusions, strong phyllic alteration and fluid-feeder textures are also associated with these structures. Distal to them, alteration appears to grade into advanced argillic and argillic assemblages. Anomalous rock types were observed to be discontinuous and strongly structurally controlled. The relationships between veining, alteration, lithology and mineralization will be interpreted once analytical results are received.
Cameron MacDonald, interim president and chief executive officer of Aurwest, commented: "Weaver Lake has a long exploration history and some high-grade historical drill intercepts, but that work tested a very small part of the claim block and much of it predates modern standards and reliable survey control. Phase 1 was about correcting that -- putting a systematic, georeferenced geochemical data set over the whole property and tying the historical showings back to structure, veining and alteration. Once the assays are received, we expect to be able to rank the existing targets properly and, we anticipate, define new ones."
Next steps
Analytical results will be used to refine and rank targets for a multiphase program, with each phase contingent on the results of the one preceding it. Phase 2 is planned as a geophysical program comprising induced polarization (IP) and resistivity surveys. Subject to favourable results, a phase 3 diamond drilling program would follow. The company will provide further updates as field data are compiled and analytical results become available.
The Weaver Lake property
Weaver Lake hosts one documented mineral occurrence, the LD showing (Minfile 092HSW070), on the west side of Harrison Lake. Mineralization is hosted in Lower to Middle Jurassic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks of the Harrison Lake formation and is structurally controlled by a complex fault system trending approximately 70 degrees, with subsidiary splays and cross-faults. It occurs as quartz-calcite plus or minus sulphide veins and stockworks carrying pyrite, sphalerite and chalcopyrite, in association with breccia and with altered, silicified zones.
Historical exploration:
- 1973: Trench sampling on the Rye 2 claim returned 63.77 g/t gold, 2,009.44 g/t silver and 7.23 per cent zinc (assessment report 6181), which drew renewed exploration interest to the area.
- 1975: One hundred eighty-five m of diamond drilling intersected several gold-silver intervals, including: 2.13 m of 11.79 g/t gold and 44.57 g/t silver from 17.68 m; 2.13 m of 6.86 g/t gold and 27.08 g/t silver from 28.35 m; 5.18 m of 4.14 g/t gold and 25.03 g/t silver from 0.91 m; and 1.52 m of 16.6 g/t gold and 91.88 g/t silver from 14.94 m (assessment report 23845).
- 1979 to 1980: Ground magnetometer survey and limited underground development were conducted.
- Early 1990s: Flame Petro-Minerals Corp. completed soil geochemistry, geological mapping and electromagnetic surveys, delineating linear gold-in-soil anomalies extending up to 600 m;
- 1996: eight diamond drill holes totalling 762 m tested those anomalies.
- 2008: Five NQ holes totalling 858 m tested the western and eastern extensions of the mineralized zone; no significant intersections were returned.
- 2018: Two holes totalling 236.22 m tested the eastern extension of the shear zone. One hole intersected altered and brecciated volcanic rocks with quartz-carbonate-rhodochrosite veining and returned narrow gold-silver intervals, at grades lower than the historical results.
Geological setting and deposit model
Based on the geology, mineralization style and structural setting of the property, the most appropriate deposit model is orogenic (mesothermal) gold hosted in quartz plus or minus carbonate veins. This structurally controlled style is widely developed in accretionary orogens and is well represented throughout the Canadian Cordillera. The fault- and shear-hosted quartz-carbonate vein systems reported in the Harrison Lake district are consistent with this model, locally enhanced by proximity to intermediate intrusive bodies.
As described in historical assessment reporting, the predominant structure on the property is an east-northeast-trending fault zone, expressed as a strong linear topographic depression and coinciding closely with the baseline of the historical grid and the main road. The zone is complex, with subparallel splays offset by north-south to northwest faults and associated tectonic and possibly vent-related breccias. Gold and silver mineralization occurs in quartz veins and stockworks close to the fault zone, in association with breccia and in altered, silicified zones with fine disseminated pyrite. The historical main zone encompasses the adit area and a zone of approximately 200 m by 75 m to the northeast, where rock chip samples returned 130 to 6,700 ppb gold; it lies within an east-west gold-in-soil anomaly approximately 600 m in length. Further anomalies occur elsewhere on the property, at or close to other breccia zones.
Sampling methodology and quality control
Soil, rock and stream sediment samples were collected by company field personnel using GPS-located (Global Positioning System), digitally logged procedures, and were sealed, labelled and kept under the control of company personnel until delivery to ALS North Vancouver for preparation and multielement analysis. Rock samples comprise composite, grab, chip and selective high-grade samples of bedrock, subcrop, colluvium and float. Certified blanks were inserted into
the rock sample stream at a rate of approximately one in 24 samples. If analyzed samples exceed the overlimit amount of 25 ppm for gold, samples will be further analyzed using Au-GRA21.
Cautionary note regarding historical information
The historical exploration data and analytical results in this news release are drawn from publicly filed assessment reports and other historical records. Neither Aurwest nor a qualified person has verified that data. The historical results predate National Instrument 43-101 and were obtained using sampling, analytical and quality control procedures that cannot now be confirmed. Reported drill intervals are core lengths; true widths are not known. Trench, chip, grab and selective high-grade samples are selected samples and are not, by their nature, representative of mineralization on the property. The property does not host a mineral resource or mineral reserve, and the historical results should not be relied upon as an indication of the presence, grade, width or continuity of mineralization. The company considers this information relevant as an exploration guide only.
Qualified person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by David Bridge, PGeo, an independent technical advisor to the company and a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Aurwest Resources Corp.
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